


Halo's Random Whump Fics

by HaloRocks1214



Category: Original Work
Genre: Crying, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Human Hunting, Kidnapping, Mind Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Esteem Issues, Survival, Whump, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 12:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20446850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaloRocks1214/pseuds/HaloRocks1214
Summary: Collection of my kind of short Whump Stories from myWhump BlogTags will update as time goes on. Updates will also be sporadic. For the most part, these stories are original. They're chock-full of characterization for my complicated OCs that I don't really explain who what when where or why.But who cares about that, am I right?I'm here to have a fun time, not a logical one(Non-OC stories will have the fandom in the chapter title)





	1. an old "friend"

Ophelia looked away from the tied up family, “Ellen! You have… _visitors_ here to see you one last time!”

Merek, Jennifer, and Vincent all listened as footsteps pitter-pattered out from a hidden area. They watched Ellen enter the room and subsequently gasped. Ellen was mostly fine, with only a couple of marks here and there, but that’s not why they gasped.

They gasped because Ellen wasn’t _really_ there, as signaled by this horrifying cold, blank, and _dead_ stare she was sporting. Silence filled the whole room, giving the family time to process it. What… This couldn’t be happening, right? Ellen has taken worse before in longer situations (Ophelia only had her for two weeks!) and come out less psychologically damaged than this.

What did this lady do? What has this lady _done?!_

Ophelia stepped closer to Ellen and gently rubbed her hands over Ellen’s shoulders, clearly making her more uncomfortable. Ophelia either didn’t notice and thought she was actually comforting her or she was purely gloating. Either option was viable. Merek snarled in anger, “Get the hell away from her!”

Ophelia just raised an eyebrow when Ellen flinched at her brother’s anger, making him shrink back down to seem less threatening. She hoped it showed more reason as to why personal attachments will just get in the way of her destiny, “Clearly, my lack of real guidence back then led to this tomfoolery. I always just nudged her, let her know to not lose sight of what she must do, yet as you all slowly came into the picture, I realized more… drastic measures must be taken. At least she knows her place now, correct?”

Ellen was shaking in her shoes when she slowly nodded her head, still keeping that stupid cold stare, showing her lack of agency. Agency that she used to have. Seriously, what did this lady do to her? Both back then and now?

Vincent was holding back his emotions (which was a mixture of anger and sadness) as Jennifer tried to get through to her daughter using the cliche route, “Ellen, sweetie, please! Who cares about all of that stuff! You never really did! Remember that! Please…”

Ophelia rubbed her temples, “Such useless blabber. I should’ve just stomped all of this out when it first started happening. Well, that’s all in the past now. Hero, prove that you learned what comes with your position of power and get rid of these roadblocks in your way.”

Merek could consider him and his family pretty level-headed, but they all felt panic when they saw Ophelia pull out a hidden gun from the back of her dress. It was weird, to be honest, seeing someone other than Ellen or Merek have these mythical powers _and_ still use a gun. Then again, they also thought Ellen and Merek were the only ones left with those powers in the first place.

Ophelia gave the weapon to Ellen, and with slow movements, the younger woman moved to look at her family. After a few seconds (that felt like years), Ellen finally cocked the gun. Her family watched with wide eyes as Ellen aimed it at them. Closing their eyes in fear, they all prepared to reap the consequences of their failure, but when the gun went off, none of them felt pain. Once again, they all gasped, but this time, it was completely because of shock.

Because Ellen was no longer aiming at them.

She was aiming at Ophelia.

And the gun was smoking.

With a couple of pain-filled chokes, Ophelia placed her hand over the new gunshot wound and toppled over. The injury wasn’t fatal, but if everyone left it alone it sure would become that. The entire family watched as Ellen turned around and started walking toward them. Quickly.

_And her eyes weren’t dead anymore._

Holy shit.

She was _faking_ it.

After untying them all, Ellen was subjected to gratuitous hugs from each and every one of her family. Merek was the last one to do so, as he needed more time to process what just happened. He got his hug in after Vincent kissed Ellen on her cheek, much to her embarrassment and a drawn-out, “Daaaaad.”

Finally. Hugging her, letting her go, but keeping his hands on her shoulders, Merek spoke quietly, “So, all of it was fake?”

Ellen nodded.

“The flinches?”

Another nod.

“The obedience?

Nod.

“The bruises?”

Ellen thinned her lips, “Well, acting out a couple of times helped keep up my facade that she was really convincing me.”

Her family grimaced as Merek continued, “Why? _How?_”

Ellen looked around at her family nervously before shrugging, “It was hard some nights. That cell was colder than I liked, and that voice in the back of my head will always tell me that I can’t really have a family because ‘I’m cursed’ and whatnot. Her ‘wisdom’ didn’t really help either, but-” She choked up, only for a moment, continuing her tirade with as many emotions as possible.

“I know that’s not true anymore. I know she’s _wrong._ Family isn’t a weakness like she kept telling me so many years ago, _I’m_ not a weakness. Back then I wasn’t in a good headspace and believed her easily, but today, I know better, _because of all of you and more._ So don’t feel bad, okay? You did your job by coming and saving me. I did mine by surviving. That’s what we do with family. And when one of you ends up in my position, I’ll come and rescue you, just like you do for me.” Her smile prevented the few tears that wanted to spill out from actually doing so.

The few moments of stunned silence were finished by a large group hug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187044117881/whumpitlikeitshot-yall-i-love-when-a-whumpee)


	2. the hunt 1

After Ellen got injected with something and was put to sleep (she took the kidnapping to save her friends, as per usual), she expected a lot to happen after she woke up. She got the splitting headache, like always, then explored her room- that was actually a room, surprisingly. It had a pretty nice bed with a mirror and a wardrobe with clothes- and wondered when a large person would come in and manhandle her to a torture room where she would get beat for information (that she would never give).

This wasn’t her first rodeo if you couldn’t tell.

While a large man about twice her size did come in and manhandle her to a different location, it was rather gentler than what she was expecting, and when they got to a new door, he calmly let her go to turn around and watch the hallway. Thoroughly confused, she slowly turned around herself and opened the door like she was expected to do so.

She thought she would see a medical examination table with syringes or cages lined up against the walls or chains or whips, hell, maybe even just a little bit of blood, but she got none of it. Instead, she got a large feast table with food lined up from one end to the other, with a rather lanky man sitting way over on the other side, calmly sipping something out of a wine glass.

What. The hell.

The man set down his glass and waved an arm out in front of himself to motion her to the chair on the other side of the table to where he was, “Please, we have much to discuss. Take a seat.”

Side-eyeing everything, especially the man, she slowly inched her way to the chair and sat on the edge. She scooted only a smidge closer to the table, leaving enough room for her to be able to either bolt or kick her way out of trouble. While her face didn’t form into a glare exactly, it wasn’t a happy look she gave him once she was situated either.

The man (she’s gotta figure out a better name for him) watched her distrust with only a raised eyebrow, “I don’t have any plans that would leave you at a disadvantage if that’s what you’re wondering. I did make this food just for the two of us, after all. None of it is poisoned, nor is it drugged with anything that would allow for such depraved acts you could be concerned about.”

‘Creepy Man Who Offers Food In An Even More Creepy Manner’ is too long, Ellen figures. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance, “Well, I’m sorry. Just because I’m _used_ to being kidnapped doesn’t mean I have to _like_ it. Oh, and also, I don’t know why you’ve kidnapped me in the first place, by the way!”

‘Confused Man’ sounds a little better, considering he widened his eyes slightly at what the girl stated, “You have no idea why you’re here? Darn idiots, I told them to explain the general details before you went under. I suppose you’d like an explanation, then?”

Ellen’s fists clenched on her shorts, “That would be preferable, yes.”

It finally dawned on him on what he needed to do, “I suppose I should keep this brief. I have a name, but you don’t need to know me by anything else other than The Scavenger. I’ve been watching the people in your area, including you, and decided you would be best for our game. Your smarts and skill are thoroughly unmatched.” He looked around for his fork and knife.

Meanwhile, Ellen just shook her head in confusion, “What? What _game?_ This explanation is just making more confused, you know. I don’t think I’m living up to your expectations of being really smart just yet.” She finally leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. Since she’s going to be here a while, she might as well get comfortable.

‘The Scavenger’ (how pretentious) started stabbing into the steak on his plate, “We’re in the middle of a giant forest with caves and trees and wildlife for days. I’d go out every weekend and find something new to kill. I got bored after a few years. On the day I decided to quit, a stranger strolled into my forest, lost and confused. In the end, they made a pretty good camp. Just to see how it would feel, I took a shot at them from the shadows and deliberately missed. They ran for maybe half a day before I decided to just take them out. That’s when I realized that they could almost evade my sights sometimes, making for good prey. But I also realized I would need smarter targets to make it more fun. So now I scour the cities for people like you. People who would be exceptional at playing the role of prey.”

Ellen raised an eyebrow with a smirk on her face, sarcasm meter going through the roof in her head, “Wait, that’s why I’m here? For Human Hunting? Really? Didn’t ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ come out in, like, the 1930s?”

The Scavenger didn’t even look up what he was doing, “It was the 1920s, actually. 1924. I find that it has an awful representation of the sport regardless.”

Ellen’s face drooped back into that same disappointed/distrustful look that she had when she first sat down, _That was a sarcastic question, dumbass. And that book shouldn’t be an example to follow either!_

He took a bite of his steak and looked at his watch, eyes widening at what he read, “Dear me, time seems to have gotten away from us. Tonight, I’ll come into your room to lay down some ground rules and let you pick the tools you wish to start with. Tomorrow, it’ll start at sunrise, and the number of days you have to survive will be based on how many tools of mine you take. I’ll have Sullivan take you back to your room. I’ll see you again in a couple of hours.”

“Wha- hey! We’re not done here!-” She screamed out. She was able to smack the table with her fist once before ‘Sullivan’ (that big man from before) came in and dragged her more forcefully back to her room. She watched and struggled as The Scavenger calmly and slowly walked to where he needed to be the entire way down the hallway. As if this was a normal everyday part of his daily life. The idea made Ellen sick.

Thank God it’s not her friends… She at least has a firm understanding of what’s about to happen and what’s required to live here. Sullivan let her go, and before he could even turn back around, Ellen strutted in her room-cage and slammed the door shut, finishing her movements by getting to the direct center and standing there, staring at the floor. 

Clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides, Ellen needed to take more than one deep breath to stave off the hyperventilation that was slowly about to take over her body. Exhale after exhale, Ellen was finally able to stop shaking. 

It’s fine. She knows how to survive in a forest, she’s also been chased around in them while having to do so, and, hey! She’ll have a handful of tools to start with, which is actually better than a few other times, where she had nothing but the clothes off of her back when she got to the woods.

It’s fine. _She’s fine._ She might be paranoid out of her wits, and maybe she left her friends to fear for her life while simultaneously not knowing where she is or how to find her, but it’s _fine._ She’s scared and worried, but that’s never prevented her from surviving before. _She’s not allowed to be scared-_

Her stomach grumbled. 

She sighed in annoyance. That food looked really good, actually. 

She probably should’ve at least had a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187126742086/the-hunt-1)


	3. the hunt 2

True to his word, The Scavenger (with Sullivan close behind) came to her place of residence a handful of hours after their ‘chat’. He brought the optional tools along with him. Looking into the room, The Scavenger was greatly shocked when he saw it was empty. Curious… could she really have found a way out of this windowless room without alerting Sullivan?

Once The Scavenger was about halfway into the room, Ellen took that opportunity as her moment to strike. Dropping from the ceiling, she bolted to the door. She knew about Sullivan, but with The Scavenger preoccupied, she hoped she could at least be able to get around the henchman, or at least take him on if it turned dirty.

She was wrong.

With lightning-fast reflexes you wouldn’t expect from a man his size, he placed his hand on her chest and pushed her back. He wasn’t that forceful, but his shove was hard enough that Ellen tripped back a few times before landing on her bottom. She rubbed it for a little bit, hissing as she soothed the knots away. 

Great way to start this: a bruised tailbone.

Stellar.

The Scavenger leaned down to ‘inspect’ her more closely, only slightly amused, “Fascinating… I never expected something like that. Quiet… Versatile… I can definitely see I made the right choice when it came to my next prey.”

With that, he simply turned back around and walked over to a folded table in the corner (that Ellen almost used as a back-up plan) and grabbed it. As he brought it to the center of the room, Ellen stood back up, glaring the whole time. Feeling Sullivan stand quietly in the doorway didn’t help her anxiety. It took her a few seconds to register that he was holding a bag for her to take.

As she grabbed it, she almost didn’t hide her flinch as he quietly spoke, “Hmm, maybe I was wrong about this one being particularly fast. I guess she could just be having an off afternoon.”

Piece of shit. She threw the bag around her shoulder and looked at the table. The Scavenger rolled out the tarp to reveal all the possible items she could take in her arsenal. He simply crossed his arms and waited. Examining it, she easily figured out what each item was.

A map; a pocket-knife; a water canister; iodine; flint and steel; a small can of oil, and an average-sized can of beans.

An item for each day of the week. How… quaint. Putting her hand on her chin, Ellen thought deep and hard about the choices in front of her.

The map; _huge_ advantage. She’d know the entire area right out of the gate. Sure, she might not know where _he_ was, but she could react better if she came across him. Hell, she could survive an entire _day_ with just that map. But there was also no telling if that map was still accurate. He could be lying, plus, how hard would he make it if she only needed to survive one day? Fuck it, she grabbed it and put it into the main pouch.

The Scavenger hmmed, making her lose focus for a second. Next item.

The pocket-knife; useless to her. She knew how to make a wide variety of things from nothing but the stuff on the forest ground. Spears, bows, hammers; the whole nine yards. No need to waste time with this tiny-ass thing. She looked at it for a second before flitting away.

“Oh?” The Scavenger quietly questioned. She clenched her fists. Onto the next selection.

The water canister; while she can work without it, it’ll be extremely difficult. Stream water was highly unstable and filtering it was not an easy task. With him riding on her coat-tail, she couldn’t afford to waste time at a stream every time she got mildly thirsty. Grabbing it from the base, she clipped it to the bag near the bottom.

He didn’t say anything this time. Thank God. Next one…

Iodine; obviously. She just stated above why she needed this. Sure, she knows how to make a water filter from the rocks and soil, but _damn_ is it _slow._ If she can’t spare time to get to the river a handful of times throughout the day, she sure as hell can’t wait for a natural water filter to make enough to drink. She swiped it up and put it in the small pocket right above the canister.

“Ah, of course.”

Fuck. _Off._

Flint and steel; frankly, it would make things easier, but she’s been complimented on the fact that she can start a fire with two sticks as fast another person can with a flint and steel. She’ll abuse the hell out of that power, thank you very much. Skipping.

Can of oil; if she took the flint and steel she might have considered this, but she didn’t. She could potentially make a trap for The Scavenger, but he clearly has been doing this for way longer than any of them, unfortunately, knew. He’s probably aware of every trick under the sun the people he’s kidnapped have used. Leaving it be, she only had one more option to think about.

Can of beans; it was very enticing, and Ellen felt her mouth water at the sight (and she didn’t even _like_ beans). She almost grabbed it, but then she remembered something The Scavenger said. The forest had a wide variety of wildlife, right? She knew how to hunt herself, and traps for small animals would be very good since she was spending more than one day here. She took her hand away and went to her bag.

The Scavenger just watched with a raised eyebrow as she slowly sifted through her pouch, making sure she didn’t grab too much or too little, “Hmm. The map, the water canister, and the iodine. Very interesting… I personally would have done without the map, but I suppose not everyone is as flexible as I am.”

Ellen’s eyebrow twitched, yet at the same time, shivers traveled down her spine. She miraculously managed to bite her tongue throughout it all.

Everything that she wanted was in her bag for tomorrow. Closing it up, she slowly brought her gaze up to The Scavenger’s face. Her eyes were dark, and she spoke calmly, “I have made my final decision.”

The Scavenger grinned, “Wonderful. As stated previously, the number of items tell you the number of days you need to survive, and you chose three. Sullivan will come in tomorrow at sunrise and take you to the starting location. I choose when I should start, so it could be immediately, or you could have a few hours. Nights I’m still not sure about, so don’t consider them out of the question just yet.”

Sleepless nights! Perfect. Ellen has gone a long time with little sleep before, but again, she’s not obligated to appreciate it. Inhaling sharply, she managed to keep the shake out of her voice, “Thank you for informing me. I shall see you at some point tomorrow.”

The Scavenger nodded only once, “The same to you, my dear prey.”

With that, he walked out of the room, taking the non-picked items with him, and gently shut the door behind him. Taking a few seconds to just stare at it, Ellen eventually turned around and strutted to her bed, She plopped down onto the edge, keeping her vision on her feet.

It took all of her power to not curl up into a ball and bury her face into her knees. She gripped the bedsheets so hard that her knuckles turned immediately white. Again, just take deep breaths. Gulp when you exhale for maximum relaxation.

Three days… Only three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187136305161/the-hunt-2)


	4. the hunt 3

Nothing spectacular happened when Sullivan came to get Ellen.

It was probably about two hours or so before sunrise. He opened the door to her already dressed and ready to go, doing stretches over the map. It seemed to be split into three areas. The one at the bottom was his mansion of sorts where he lived. Some forest seeped into it, but other than that, Ellen should probably stay away. She doesn’t feel like playing the ‘hiding in plain sight’ technique.

The left consisted of the majority of the forest. It was just trees and trees and trees _everywhere._ It was practically _all_ of the woods, as well as no doubt where she would be placed to start. Parts of the river and lake could be seen through the green, so she made sure to memorize those locations

The last area on the right, while partly green, was also grey. That must be his caves. Nothing there seemed to be too important just yet, but Ellen made sure to still get a decent grasp. You’ll never know when you might need to hunker down in a cave to hide. Plus, who knows? Maybe she can try and escape with them again. It certainly wouldn’t be the dumbest plan she’s come up with so far.

Giving the map one more look over, Ellen nodded her head once. Alright, that’s hopefully everything…

When she heard Sullivan coming, she put everything away and followed his every movement. She walked down a hallway to the outside while he followed closely behind. They were into the outside and mostly to where they needed to be when she zipped to the side and tried running away again.

For about one second.

Sullivan didn’t even flinch as he shot his arm out and grabbed her upper-right one. It was literally like a scene from a cartoon. Ellen’s legs shot out in front of her because of the momentum, yet her upper body stayed where it was. She didn’t fall on her ass this time, thank God, her legs caught herself and kept her mostly standing.

They were soon walking back to where they needed to go- and she means “walking”, because, with an iron grip on her upper right arm, he just dragged her along behind him. Damn, this man was beefy in more ways than one. It was very easy to hide any pain she was receiving from him yanking her, but she won’t be able to prevent the hand-shaped bruise that’ll form on her arm.

The man talked without any inflection, “Just play by Master’s rules. It’ll give the chance of preventing your death the highest possibility.”

Ellen thinned her lips, gaining sudden and sporadic sympathy for this man. She expected he might be forced to be here, and she’s still not sure, but it’s definitely turning out to be that way. She spoke like he was a frightened child, “Why? Why work for him? I can get you out if you really want.”

The stopped walking for a second. He seemed to lose focus, giving Ellen the belief that he actually was considering her words. Her belief was quickly stomped out when he suddenly squeezed her arm with such ferocity that she thought he might literally _break_ it. There was no point in hiding the gasp that slipped out this time. She clawed at his hand, but it did absolutely nothing,

Despite the angry look, Sullivan still managed to keep a rather apathetic demeanor, “Just because I’m giving you tips on how to have a fair fight doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying this as much as he is.” With that, he released her and tossed her forward. She tripped a few seconds before standing up straight again, eyes blinking in shock at what just happened.

Rubbing her arm, Ellen looked back briefly with discontent before looking at where she was going. Okay, he was probably not being forced. Now she knows not to make that same mistake.

Looking around, she was placed in a very general and open area. A hole in the trees above her showcased that sunrise was approaching, and a singular, large, lonely rock sat a few feet away from the center of the area. 

_Wow, how metaphorical. He probably put that there on purpose,_ Ellen scowled at nothing but the empty air itself. She changed her line of sight to the forest line in front of her. If she remembered the map closely enough, the stream should be a hundred or two hundred feet in that direction?

Well, she might as well get a head start, considering he made no promise as to wait a few hours after sunrise. Hell, he could be hunting right now.

Ellen has fought types like his of all shapes and sizes. They always have an extra trick or two up their sleeves in the end. Always.

—

The next couple of hours were pretty uneventful, and that fact is making Ellen both relieved and paranoid at the same time. He either has completely lost her or he knows exactly where she is and is waiting to strike.

That’s not… ideal.

In the meantime, she examined the map a little bit more and used that info to explore the area in greater detail, set up some minor traps for food for later or tomorrow (that she marked with holes on the map), and even made some weapons/tools. She hasn’t been able to make the bow she wants, but the spear and hammer currently tied to her bag are looking pretty sweet.

The first thing she did before all of that was go to the river and fill her canister. She examined the iodine bottle and how much she had and determined that she should only use two drops at most each time. She purified her water, tasted a little bit, and was satisfied with the result. She placed it on her hip and went on to make all of the aforementioned traps and weapons.

In the process of her doing all of that, she drank the majority of the liquid in her canister. Considering she had nothing else to do, she might as well refill it. As of this moment, she was back at the stream of water, filling her canister the exact same way and only using two drops: nothing more, nothing less. As she swirled it around, she thought about generic things.

The amount of food she’ll be able to eat will be scarce, so she’s hoping to make up for it by staying as hydrated as possible. At least, she thinks that’s how it works. Goddammit, she should know this. Was this mess causing her to lose it? She’s had clearer heads in worse situations, she’s just got to take a few more deep breaths, that’s all. Placing the canister back on her hip, she rubbed her temples and turned around to continue her journey. She should probably take the map out again and examine the areas she hasn’t been-

Since she was lost in thought, she didn’t notice the new trap made specifically for her for when she came back to the stream. Taking only a few steps, she stepped right on it and yelped as she was yanked upward and flipped upside down. Opening her eyes after realizing she wasn’t dead, she tried examining what caught her. Wait… was that _netting_ in front of her eyes?!

That was when the burning sensation kicked in.

The net was made of normal ropes, but _holy shit_ they _had_ to be covered in _something._ Anywhere the rope made contact with her bare skin, it felt like a tiny flame was being pushed up against it. You know how it feels when antiseptic gets poured onto open wounds? It stings but in a bad way? It felt like that was happening all over her skin. Was this going to leave a mark? Lord knows she needs _more-_

Footsteps started approaching, causing her to breathe faster than she was even with just the burning. Shit, did he have hunting dogs? Wow, how original. Maybe he didn’t, maybe he’s just trying to get her to panic more than she already was. Everybody knows panic is a good common-sense blockade, him especially, considering he’s done this more than the normal amount of _zero times._

Those footsteps weren’t letting up, and Ellen blinked with determination. If she’s going to die, she’s not going to do it on the _first fucking day._ Part of her wishes she grabbed the pocket-knife now. Welp, no time to dwell on the past, especially since the present is currently trying to _murder_ her.

Looking toward the ground, her eyes widened at the stroke of luck she spotted. Her bag was still on her back, restricting the area she could move in the already tiny net, but it appears that her makeshift spear fell out at some point. Was it when the net grabbed her? Or maybe when she was struggling after first getting caught, and thus it wiggled out-

The footsteps were practically behind her, and she decided to not care about how her spear got there anymore. Using what flexibility she had, she shoved her arm through one of the tiny holes and tried hopelessly clenching at the spear. Her vision occasionally got blurry with tears from the fear and strain, and boy did that burning sensation not feel good when she pushed herself as close as possible to it, but she wasn’t going to give up. No way.

She almost missed it when her fingers brushed over the handle of the spear. Eyes widening a smidge, she _actually_ grabbed it, gripped it as hard as she could, turned it around, and slashed part of the net that was located under her. She wasn’t big enough to fit into that hole, but the weakened structure coupled with her weight allowed her to eventually make it bigger and slip through.

With an ‘oof’ she was out of the net and back on the sweet, hard, solid ground. It only took one moment, but once she realized she was free, she stood up, stabbed the spear into her bag and ran like all hell was breaking loose. She heard a gunshot right as she got out of the area with the river, and she thinks it maybe flew past her? It didn’t hit her at least, so that’s a blessing.

She kept running until it felt like she was going to throw up, and then kept going. She wasn’t going to stop until her body gave out or the world told her to stop. That’s partially what happened in the end. She was still going at it when she missed a jump over a big tree root and tripped. No landing on her face, though. She made sure to roll as she landed, taking away any possible extra injuries that would litter the rest of her body.

She was on the ground in a position that looked like she was about to propose to someone. The only difference between that and her was the fact that her fist was clenched and shoved into the dirt, and her neck made it so she had her face stare at the soil right in front of her feet. She was breathing heavily, wheezes sneaking out every time she exhaled. She wasn’t shaking due to the adrenaline drop this time, surprisingly. Once she felt stable enough, she slowly stood up.

Wiping off her already dirty as hell and partially ripped clothes, an unfortunate thought hit her like a freight train.

_It was only halfway into the first day._

That was just a taste of what was about to come, and no doubt it was going to get harder. She clenched and unclenched her fists at her hips before letting her arms droop into a relaxed position, at least, as relaxed as she can be right now.

Ellen sighed before she reluctantly kept going. She was going to keep her word.

She’s not dying. She only kept it to the first day in the beginning, but after that stunt, her need to spite those that annoy/hurt her grew immensely. How was she going to make him angry?

Live. 

She bets he hates it when people do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187195742816/the-hunt-3)


	5. the hunt 4

Looking out over the expansive area, Ellen watched as the sun inched closer and closer to the edge of the Earth. It was a pretty sight for all intents purposes, but right now it was nothing more than an over-exaggerated clock.

She was up a tree, partially leaning off of it with one arm grabbing a branch to keep her stable. It was no more than an hour till sunset, putting Ellen on edge. The night was going to be a whole ‘nother ballpark, and she needs to find a battle plan fast before it bites her in the ass.

Leaping off the tree in one fell swoop, she landed on all fours before immediately starting to walk. For now, her plan will either be climbing up a tree and hunkering down or digging herself into a bush. She would prefer the tree (she’s slept in trees before after all), but the bush would hide her better. Very few trees have leaves obscuring the branches from above, and that’s a horrible revelation for her already horrible situation.

The thing about the bush plan, however, is that there’s still the issue of whether or not he has hunting dogs…

Squeezing her face between her hands, Ellen shook off the worry like a wet dog. Last time she just thought and walked without worry she ended up in some kind of weak-acid covered net, and she’ll do everything in her power to make sure it’ll never happen again.

She needs to do something, dammit. But what? Placing her hand on her chin, she kept thinking, but this time, she used part of her brain to stay keenly aware of her surroundings. Well, she _could_ check her traps, but they’ll probably be fruitless. There’s no point in exploring the caves since they’re so far away… Is there anything she can make?

Oh! She hasn’t made a bow yet. That’s what she’ll do! Taking her hand off of her chin, she started looking solely at the ground. She has some vines in her backpack already, so there’s no need to look for a string, but the stick that was required needed to be special. After a few minutes, her eyes landed on the perfect candidate. Leaning over and snatching it up, she speed-walked to a thick tree nearby to sit behind it as cover.

Shoving her back up against the tree, she pulled a vine out of her pouch and got to work. She tied the vine to one end like she knows, flipped it around, and pushed as hard as possible. Normally, she would just tie the other side of the rope material to the stick, but her exhaustion made her lose her grip on it. As she was tying the rope, her hand slipped off the stick and it shot up, whipping her right in the face and nose. 

She flinched backward hard as she whispered out a quiet-but-loud, “Fuck.”

Damn. That hurt.

Rubbing her nose for a minute and deciding that it would only bruise, not bleed, she went back and tried again. Being a little bit more careful, she was able to tie the knot successfully. Letting go, she used both hands to bring the bow up to examine it. Turning it a little bit, she was satisfied. Placing it on her pouch along with everything else, she stood back up and wiped off her clothes.

Then, she heard barking.

Well, that answers that question.

Eyes wide, she looked in the direction the noises were coming from. Right as she did so, two canines jumped from out of the bushes with their mouths snarling and foaming. Ellen didn’t need to be told twice. She did a 180 on her heels and booked it as hard as she could.

From the sound of it, she and the dogs were going the same speed since their feral noises got neither farther nor closer, and Ellen couldn’t decide through the fear whether or not that was positive or negative. She might have been running for a few seconds or maybe even minutes, but she eventually made it to the stream and was running alongside it.

Wait, shit, were they getting closer? Fuck, the water was making noise, and thus taking some of her audio focus of the literal lethal danger right behind her-

Well, regardless of that, the water made more noise when her dumbass tripped right into it and made a huge splash. Shaking her head underwater, she quickly went back up to the surface and gasped for air. Then, she heard two more slightly smaller splashes.

Fuck, these dogs really know their stuff, eh? Taking a deep breath, Ellen went back under and may or may not have used some of her abilities to swim a little bit faster upstream than a normal human could. The dogs were probably good swimmers, but even though the current was weak, it’s always hard to swim against it regardless. Ellen’s a good swimmer too, and she even admits that.

For what felt like an eternity, Ellen pushed her muscles to swim and swim and swim. Even when it felt like her limbs would stop out of principle, she told herself, ‘Keep moving, you fuck!’ It hurt and it ached and the water didn’t help those tiny burns she received earlier, but dammit, this pain was and will always be better than getting ripped apart by savage dogs!

Eventually, she had to let up. She couldn’t swim forever, especially since The Scavenger will find a way to use it against her. Getting above surface level again and taking a deep breath, she found the shoreline and paddled her way over.

Quite literally dragging herself out of the water, Ellen looked up at the first tree she spotted. It was now dark out, so she must have been swimming for a long ass time. At least this was one of the trees that had leaves covering the bottom of it. She guesses life gave her a break for once.

Gasping and whispering swears due to pain, she managed to force herself up the tree and into a decent hiding spot. Sitting up against the trunk, she reached behind her to see if her bow was damaged in the scuffle. Grasping at open air for a few seconds led her to believe that, if it was damaged, it didn’t matter anymore, as she didn’t have it _period._

Letting her hand fall onto her lap, she just sat in shock. After listening to nothing but the quiet stream and chirping birds, Ellen finally let herself go. Curling up into a ball and hiding her face, she made sure to smother her sobs as much as possible. Those dogs can probably hear from pretty far away.

Wow, she’s crying over a goddamn _bow_ of all things. Not the fact she was alone, or the fact that she was running to survive from a goddamn _human hunter,_ it was because she lost a cheap-ass bow that she could remake fairly easily.

Yeah, in reality, she’s probably crying over more, and the bow just broke the straw on the camel’s back, but for right now, she might as well just mourn the loss of her bow. Lord knows she doesn’t have it in her to cry over anything else at this point.

Laying down and looking up toward the sky (there was one singular hole that allowed her to see the starry night) with tear tracks down her face, she took a deep breath. She needed to stop crying to conserve energy. She’s fucking freezing, and she doesn’t have the time to find something to make her warm.

She started to shiver as she was crying, but now that she didn’t have the shake of her shoulders because of sadness, it was much more apparent. Turning over to lay on her left side, she curled up as much as possible to conserve body heat.

The back of her brain says sleeping right now is the dumbest possible thing she could do, but her aching, tired, and freezing bones were overriding her common sense meter. If she’s going to go out, she supposes while sleeping would be the best-case scenario for everyone involved.

If the day ever came (and hopefully it never will), her family had always wanted her to go out comfortably and quietly.

—

She woke up aching.

Slowly peeling her eyes open, some of the sun’s rays managed to peek through leaves, subsequently hitting her right in the eyes. Man, she’s already light-sensitive, the fact that she took a dip in the river and swam for her life doesn’t help in the slightest.

Sitting up extremely cautiously, she eventually got into a position that allowed her to work out the kinks in her back, arms, and legs. Looking around, she thought about what to do. She should eventually explore the caves and check out her traps. She’s also suddenly aware of how hungry she is. And cold. She should probably find a good place to light a fire to warm up. Ooh, the caves are perfect! Kill two birds with one stone and all that jazz.

Oh, you didn’t think she would give up, did you? Nah, never. If she’s going to die it’ll be spitting in his face while doing so. She’s forced herself to survive through some of the most godawful experiences, and as much as her family doesn’t like it when she thinks this way, she’ll hate herself for giving up because of a weakling like this douche.

With careful leaps down the tree, she was back on the ground and ready to roll out with newfound determination. She strutted forward, not looking back.

She’s survived the first day just as promised. Now, she’s definitely going to keep the other one and make it back home. She wants to make sure her family and friends are all okay, after all.

Who knows what they’re thinking at this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187219852171/the-hunt-4)


	6. heart to heart

With the door shut behind them, Ellen was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

It really sucked, sometimes, how she couldn’t just pop out her wings and get everyone to fuck off. It would solve a whole lot of her problems, but… at the end of the day, she’d rather deal with the problems that came with keeping your identity a secret than have villains and the media alike _bombard_ her 24/7.

She really does want part of her life to be normal; with a family and a group of friends she can talk to nonchalantly. She enjoys the simple things; like going out in public and not having people recognize that you’re the _Destined Savior_ or all that bullshit. Still, that doesn’t mean she has to _enjoy_ the shitty parts that _come_ with having a normal life.

Vincent took a deep breath, “Alrighty, now that those people are out of the way and that we’re behind closed doors…”

Suddenly, a hand was on her ear and pulling roughly. Vincent was pinching it in that stereotypical way any other parent would their misbehaving child. It really wasn’t _that_ bad, but Ellen still grimaced nonetheless, “Ow- _Dad!_ What in the _world?-_” When she saw Vincent’s face, she shut up.

Her dad was glaring, but it wasn’t because he was genuinely angry at her. His hand stayed on her ear, but the tugging ceased with his next statement, “What in the world was that back there? We had a conversation about this a few weeks ago, didn’t we?”

Looking away somewhat ashamedly, she abruptly remembered one of her random attempts to get that fake CPS off their backs.

_“He’s never done anything wrong to me! In fact, _I’ve_ done wrong to _him!_ I told him he shouldn’t get to know me, but here we are! And now he’s suffering for it!”_

Any argument she wanted to use left her body like a gust of wind.

Ellen looked away in embarrassment. She’s always careful when it comes to how much she talks about how she feels about herself. It’s snuck out a few times here and there, but otherwise, she’s felt she’s kept a low profile. It’ll slip out sometimes, and she’ll make a half-baked excuse about why and get everyone to forget by the skin of her teeth.

But as time has gone on, and with more friends knowing about it and telling her subsequent family when they join the fray themselves, it didn’t stay that much of a secret. Hell, it probably never was, but she was so insistent that she didn’t <s>deserve</s> _need_ help that they didn’t push it far and helped in small ways instead.

Ellen kept looking at the floor, “I’m… sorry.”

Vincent sighed, “That’s not-” Vincent pulled his hand away from her as if he were touching a hot stove and put it over his mouth at a loss. 

_Dammit, Ellen. Stop making this worse for him!_ She chastised herself. Before she could possibly run away, or simply just leave the room, she felt a hand touch her face this time, simply caressing her cheek with nothing but love and comfort. She tensed up before secretly allowing her body to lean into it. 

(It’s mostly so _he_ can be comforted, yeah…)

Moments like these reminded Vincent about the unfavorable details of their life. Ellen was unnaturally tiny, and when Vincent or somebody else picked her up or placed their hand on her, it was just _so big._ He always felt like he was handling glass when he grabbed her hands in his. Sometimes it felt like _she_ was glass.

He always thought it was partly due to how she let herself grow up. 

(”We feel like she went through failure to thrive a little bit,” Amy mentioned quietly one night, “We always felt awful for not forcing some things more, but she always insisted that _I’m fine!_ and _Don’t worry!_ Considering her life at the orphanage before, who were we to force things that could make her even more uncomfortable? But nowadays we wonder if she just felt like sure was burdening us, which was not true in the slightest…”)

But that wasn’t important just yet. He had the other elephant in the room he needed to consult. He might not really understand this whole ‘dad’ thing yet, but damn if he wasn’t going to try. He quietly took a deep breath to prepare himself, after all, he had to choose his words carefully.

“I know we’ve had ups and downs,” Vincent began softly, “And frankly, even though you found out I was being controlled, the fact that you gave me another chance at this whole ‘dad’ thing after everything was a miracle. But it should be something _you_ want too, okay? If you don’t want us to be your guys’ parents then _please_ let us know. You don’t need to force yourself into situations you don’t like unless absolutely necessary, and even that might not be true anymore.”

Ellen felt the tears coming, much to her dismay. Emotions were a fickle thing, and she’s already let out some feelings she didn’t feel like giving. She lightly grabbed her dad’s hand that was still on her cheek, “I know, and if I’m not going to be able to leave this conversation without some honesty, it _is_ something I want. Badly. I just…”

Vincent let out a small exhale when her words trailed off, “Feel like you’ll ruin it, right?” When Ellen didn’t look back up, and maybe even started slightly shaking, Vincent felt a pang in his heart, “Oh sweetheart…”

Damnit, don’t use the nicknames, please. Well, it’s too late for that, because her stupid body betrayed her and allowed a few tears to slip out of her eyes and slip down her face, some even reaching his hand on her cheek. She was about to apologize, again, but then she lost the air in her lungs because he did another unexpected thing she wasn’t prepared for.

Vincent ever so carefully wrapped his arms around her, cradling the back of her head in his hand in an attempt to push her closer into him. As if he could shield her with just his body from things _inside_ her. Speechless, she somehow managed to wrap her arms around his waist, pushing her face in his shoulder. 

He exhaled. He didn’t realize how tense he was throughout that entire series of movements, “If you want it, then you can have it. You may not believe it, but at least believe this: we’ll eventually get to a point that allows you to, okay?”

Ellen could only nod her head in his shoulder from a mixture of emotions and the fact that the rest of her body was tense as hell. She simply muffled, “Okay…”

That’s all he could ask for. He grinned in relief, “O-kay.”

They stood there for a few moments in silence. They would need to contact everyone else and inform them about what happened, and they’ll probably even need to do a little more lying to really get those people off their backs, but right now? They could just be father and daughter in this tender moment.

And that was all they could ask for.

After a little bit of rocking, Vincent tried something that would be hit or miss in the current moment, “Man, those guys wouldn’t quit coming after us, huh? I just don’t know why that CPS couldn’t have C-P-_stopped_ it and leave us alone.”

Ellen snorted, despite it being genuinely awful. Of course, he’d have Dad Jokes on hand. Or maybe it just comes magically when you officially receive the title of ‘Dad’. Kind of like Dad Reflexes (those are real, she insists). 

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? She’s finally _had_ a dad for long enough. For longer than a few months. Hmm, maybe that’s the length it takes the magic to kick in. 

She may or may not have gripped him a little tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original story on Tumblr [here](https://whumpitlikeitshot.tumblr.com/post/187311922531/heart-to-heart)


End file.
